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Battle Cohort III, IXth Macroclade Forgeworld Ryza’s LXII Expeditionary Reclamation of Sacred Texts and Diagrams in the light of the Omnissiah’s Benevolence
History: The LXII Expeditionary Reclamation of Sacred Texts and Diagrams began with the discovery of several lost Standard Template Constructs in the Hades Sector. Rumors of the STCs had begun to reach Forgeworld Ryza in the closing years of M41. At the dawn of M42 enough verifiable evidence had been produced to dispatch a Macroclade to investigate. Within a few months the vanguard of the force, Battle Cohort III, dropped out of the warp on the fringes of the Hades Sector and began to scour each world for any trace of the STCs, or other unknown tech to bolster the designs of Ryza’s fabricators. As the most senior Tech Priest of Battle Cohort III Magos Kuilas Ostraxos has assumed the role of Dominus in the Mechanicus military forces currently deployed in Hades. Ostraxos is shrewd and ambitious, deliberately departing Ryza with his forces early in order to be the first to arrive in Hades, and hopefully the first to acquire any recovered STCs. He is also an experienced battle commander, having worked closely with Imperial Knights of House Raven in the past to repel Ork incursions in the Ultima Segmentum. In recognition of his tactical and strategic prowess, several Knights have accompanied Ostraxos to Hades, hoping to follow him to glory and victory on the increasingly bloody battlefields of the sector. Roster of Key Personnel: Magos Kuilas Ostraxos: Monitor Malevolos of Battle Cohort III Magos Nathaniel Acri: Magos Biologis of Battle Cohort III, currently attached to Battle Maniple XI in search of stolen STCs. Enginseer Antillius: Mechano-Cogitator in service of Magos Kuilas, previously attached to Commisar Ren of the Armageddon XXIX Heavy Artillery Battalion Legionnare Alexius: Cybernetica Datasmith of Battle Cohort III, assigned to maintenance and control of Rubigo Centra VI, Salient Dogma, and Ferro Triarii I. Meta-Alpha II “Benthis”: Prime-relay - Maniple XI Legio Skitarii Alpha XIV-Pensos: Prime-relay - Maniple XI Ironstrider Cavalry. Sigma CXX-Myr: Prime-relay - Maniple XI Dunecrawler Artillery. Psylex 4.8: Princeps-Cogitor of Microclade III Rubigo Centra VI: Reclamation Automata I of Expedition LXII Ferro Triarii I: Reclamation Automata II of Expedition LXII Salient Dogma: Reclamation Automata III of Expedition LXII Relique Pacifcum: Reclamation Automata IV of Expedition LXII Lord Elgin Morros: Scion of House Raven attached to Expedition LXII Crimson Soul: Questoris-class Knight of House Raven, constructed and outfitted by Expedition LXII Warlord Traits: Ostraxos: Mighty: +1 Strength Penetrator Rounds: Macrostubber +1 AP Deadly Marksman: +1 damage to all ranged weapons Zealot: Re-roll all hits in the fight phase on a turn this model successfully charges, was charged, or heroically intervened. Direct Fire: Friendly AdMech units that make Wound Rolls of 6+ in the Shooting Phase within 6" of Ostraxos improve their AP by 1 High Caliber: Eradication Ray +1 Strength Inquisitor Braxis: Improved Sights: Inferno Pistol +6" range Adamantium Will: +1 deny Master of Lore: +1 known psychic power Grudge: Can reroll hits, wounds, and damage against enemy warlords Certus Liberatio: Ion Bulwark Resources: Worlds: Command Points: 15 4 from Forge Worlds 3 from Throne World 3 from Quest World 2 from Hive World 2 from Fortress World 1 from Shrine World Conquest points: 13 3 from Sebastus IX 2 from Forge Worlds 2 from Agri Worlds 2 from Hive World 2 from Fortress World 2 from Tomb Worlds Prologue: Upon arriving in Hades, Battle Cohort III immediately found themselves in close proximity with a force of Death Guard heretics occupying a world near where the Ark Mechanicus had emerged from the Warp. Seeing an opportunity to reduce threat in the system and seize a base of operations, the Battle Cohort deployed to face the forces of Chaos. Much to the surprise of the Magos, a force of Orks also emerged nearby, similarly arrayed against the heretics. Ostraxos saw the benefit in an ad-hoc alliance with the xenos leader, Morzzag, realizing the Orks would willing throw themselves against Nurgle’s spawn, limiting damage to his own forces. The strange partnership emerged victorious as the Death Guard slammed into Ork lines in order to avoid the overwhelming firepower of the Battle Cohort’s artillery and automata. As the last of the chaos warriors fell, an Enginseer serving as aide to Ostraxos stumbled upon an STC lying amongst one of the more ancient fallen marines. The victory was short lived, as the Orks then turned upon their erstwhile allies. Unknown to Ostraxos or his aide, the Orks had witnessed the recovery of the STC and sought to obtain it for themselves. All looked to be proceeding well as the Cohort’s Armigers and Skitarii Cavalry began to destroy the xenos’ ramshackle vehicles one after another. Suddenly, a group of massive orks in heavy armor appeared beside the Mechanicus command post, and charged the Enginseer. Ostraxos’ young aide was sawn in half, and the orks fled with their prize. Furious, Ostraxos ordered the immediate dispatch of his personal killteam, Microclade III. to pursue them. In the meantime, he would seize this world as his own and establish a foothold in Hades. As more forces of the IXth Macroclade began to consolidate power in Hades, taking two more worlds and establishing an organized planetary command and garrison. Ostraxos’ new chief rival, Morzzag, recorded a holo-vid message depicting the beast feasting upon the stolen STC. Morzzag claimed that by consuming it, he could gain it’s knowledge. This seemed absurd to Ostraxos, however his chief Magos Biologis, Nathaniel Acri, indicated that Ork physiology often defied reason, and as such it would be best to be wary of potential new Ork tech. In the meantime, Microclade III closed in on a portion of Morzzag’s forces that had fled the original battle. In a fierce battle amongst the ruins of an old imperial industrial world, the Skitarii slaughtered several orks and gretchen, driving them back. Although no trace of the STC was found, the Princeps-Cogitator Stylex-4.8 did discover a cache of intel amongst the dead xenos which was transmitted back to Ostraxos immediately. The results of the newfound intelligence remain to be seen, but Ostraxos’ strategic databanks constantly whir at the possibilities engendered by the new data. Chapter 1: Following the recovery of the intel cache from Morzzag's forces by Microclade III, the Monitor Malevelos deemed it prudent to chase the fleeing Ork band back to their chief. Psylex 4.8 reported the Ork ship heading for a ice-covered Death World the xenos had given the name "Oddball", located in the Patagonia System. Preliminary scans revealed the presence of several lost outposts of indeterminate origin on the icy rock, several showing signs of active technology. Ostraxos decided to deploy his first maniple and Magos Acri to clear out the xenos and recover what tech they could find in the process. Though the initial landing went well, clearing the massed Ork bands began to wear on the maniple's tactical-cogitators, and several battle auotmata were damaged in the process. Although the arrival of reinforcements saved the maniple from further losses, the Orks were able to abscond with all the valuable technology in the chaos. Deeming the planet itself to be of no value, Ostraxos pulled his forces back and left "Oddball" to the remaining orks. This would prove to be a wise choice, as the planet would soon be swallowed by a massive warpstorm. Returning to the other systems of the Hades sector, the IXth Macroclade began to identify suitable worlds to establish footholds from which to launch further expeditions. The Zelos system was the first identified as a suitable strategic foothold, and Ostraxos himself personally led Maniple XI to clear out an infestation of xenos-worshipping cultists and their genestealer masters on the sparsely inhabited world of Ome-45. The Macroclade soon suffered a setback however, as the first expedition launched into the Adhira system was decimated by a surprise assault of Craftworld Eldar, clad in black and led by a powerful psyker. Regrouping in Hades Prime, Ostraxos once again personally led Maniple XI to claim the Agri World Rex-libris in the Odysseus system in order to secure vital nutrient-supplies for the Macroclade's organic forces. As the bio-processing units were erected, a surprise ambush by Necrons surrounded the Mechanicus forces, and it was only after fierce fighting and the loss of most of the Maniple's Skitarii that the world was effectively colonized. Utilizing the increased reserves brought online by the new nutrient-supplies, Ostraxos was finally able to bring the intelligence he had gathered from Morzzag's forces to bear upon the world of Zet-9 in the Zelos system. Zet-9 had been confirmed to contain Necron tombs that might yield valuable tech for Ryza, however a massive contingent of Nurgle-worshiping Chaos cultists and their daemonic masters had infested the world. The intel cache had revealed a forecast of predictable warp shadows that periodically fell over the world, and feeding this information to his sanctioned Psykers Ostraxos was able to create mask his forces deployment, leading the heretics to believe his forces were deployed within striking distance when in fact they were digging just out of range. The foul magicks of the chaos psykers and the world's harsh climate cost the XIth Maniple dearly, and at the end of the battle only Ostraxos, his personal transport, a badly damaged Armiger of House Raven, and the battle automata Rubigo Centra VI remained functioning. The Monitor Malevelos achieved his goal, however, driving the heretics from the world and securing the tombs for his Expedition. Chapter 2: Following the arrival of a shipment of advanced weaponry from Ryza, Ostraxos began to implement his strategic data-manifests for the second phase of the Expedition's reclamation in the Hades Sector. Having determined the scope of enemy forces likely to be faced as the Expedition continued, Ostraxos consulted Antillius' cogitation-schema and determined that a larger force would increase odds of successful reclamation by 23, and so greater bio-stores would be needed. The first action of second phase began with a distress call from a local imperial hive world, under attack by the Craftworld xenos that had plagued Ostraxos previously. Their purpose upon the hive world was unclear, however they seemed uncharacteristically interested in occupying the world. Ostraxos deployed a maniple to support the local PDF, however insufficient data led to an underestimation of the Xenos forces. While many of the xenos were slain, the Skitarii forces also suffered heavy losses, and critical locations in the hive were unable to be secured. Eventually a cost-benefit analysis led the Expedition leadership to pull the remaining Maniples out, over the panicked protests of the hive world's inhabitants, and those forces were re-prioritized elsewhere. It remains to be seen what the Eldar will due with an Imperial hive world, but Ostraxos' will be watching with great interest using his surveillance automata. The next action of the second phase began on Tau Cheti, an agri world slated to provide the bio-stores necessary to bolster the Skitarii forces. Upon arrival the Macroclade forces discovered that the previous Imperial settlement on the world had been overrun by Necron xenos, possibly on the warpath due to the colonization of several of their tomb worlds in the system. A furious battle followed first contact, as the Necrons caught the Expedition forces off guard in the ruins and alley ways, and the entirety of the infantry as well as a congregation of questing Fulgurites were slaughtered in crackling bursts of Tesla fire. Ostraxos himself led the survivors, and it was only through the massive combined fire of Rubigo Centra VI and Ferro Triarii I, as well as a last-minute charge by the Monitor Malevelos and Alpha XIV-Pensos that finally drove the constructs back. While their heretical robots and ground forces lay mostly smoking upon the field, the xenos leaders escaped unscathed alongside a new and threatening floating platform wielding tech never before seen by the Expedition. Future actions will be needed to determine its nature and see if reclamation is possible. As the second phase began to be implemented, beacons throughout the system had alerted the Mechanicus leadership to massive warp storms in Hades, mainly concentrated in the empire of Ostraxos' old foe Morzzag. These storms may have been the work of the Ominissiah himself, as they nearly obliterated the Ork's burgeoning empire. As the IXth Macroclade landed upon the one Ork world remaining in the system, they found the beasts had abandoned their emplacements and fled. Noting that the acquisition of a fresh world with no loss could only be a boon granted to the tech-faithful, Ostraxos ordered the new world converted to bear great forges as a tribute and testament to the power of the Omnissiah and the triumph of logic and industry. Investigation of the Droyamor Tomb World Following completion of the Great Forges upon Droyamor, Ostraxos began the outfitting of the first Questories-class Knight to arrive from Ryza. Just as the huge new weapons and armor began to undergo the Omnissiah's blessing by Ostraxos' hand, a missive arrived addressed to the Magos, borne by a hooded figure and bearing the Inquisitorial seal. Although irritated at the interruption of his work, Ostraxos new better than to delay a communication with the Inquisition and left the rest of the Knight's outfitting to his subordinates. He entered his chambers with the missive, and remained therein for several hours communicating by in-system vox channels with an unknown party. Reappearing several hours later, he ordered that a large force immediately depart for the Imperial Hive World of Zanic in the Adhira system. Once again leading the Macroclade in-person, Ostraxos wasted no time in deploying upon the now ruined streets of the world's central hive as soon as his ships entered the system. Unholy night shrouded the world, and several advance units of skitarii and Fulgurites were lost suddenly as the reason for the cohort's presence became clear: a war party of the arch-enemy forces known as the Sons of Malaise were slowly making their way through the planet spreading a foul infection. The worshipers of Nurgle were blessedly small in numbers, and the fighting was bloody but brief, with Kastellan Fists and Taser Lances bringing down most of the enemies in vicious alleyway skirmishes. Although the cohort drove the pestilence off the world, moments before retreating the Lord of Contagion leading the foe appeared behind Ostraxos' forces and began to cut down his bodyguard. Redirecting the cohort's fire in microseconds, Ostraxos managed to fell the Nurgle Lord's own bodyguard of termintaros in a hail of missiles, plasma, and neutron laser fire. The Lord himself was untouched however, and he delivered several withering blows to Ostraxos, destroying his outer bionics and most of his physical shell. Though his consciousness was able to uplink to his shipboard databanks to be preserved in a new body, the fight was a deadly reminder not to become complacent. The Lord of Contagion himself escaped, likely to be seen again. As the Hive World was brought back to order, a strange vessel appeared in the planet's orbit and summoned Ostraxos aboard with the authority of the Inquisition. Clad in his new bionics, the Magos complied, and aboard the vessel he met a severe figure bearing the mark of the Ordo Xenos. Inquisitor Braxis had been operating in the Hades Sector for nearly a century, tracking the rise of the various Xenos kingdoms and the path of the Craftworld Arroseer. Although he had not originally planned to utilize Mechanicus forces to combat the threat, he was more than willing to use his authority to co-opt Ostraxos' cause into his own. He now insisted that the IXth Macroclade would follow a campaign plan of his devising, and that from that time forward he would personally accompany Ostraxos' forces. Before the campaign could begin, however, a final nuisance needed to be dealt with. A xenos-cult uprising on the Agri World of Rex-Libris was overcoming the local PDF, and it was necessary for the IXth to redeploy and crush the cultists in order to maintain their supply lines for the Inquisitor's mission. As Ostraxos and Braxis deployed, the location pinpointed as the nexus of cult activity was eerily quiet. As the Skitarii advanced slowly forward, escorting Braxis himself, scores of cultists and twisted xenos allies burst from the ground in their path. Traitor guardsmen, some still driving mechanicus-built Leman Russ tanks, emerged from smoking ruins to confront those they had betrayed. Despite the suddenness and scale of the emergence of enemy forces, the data-manifolds of the Skitarii war banks were not so easily disturbed. Instantly calculating firing vectors and target prioritization, the IXth opened fire upon the foe. Waves of cultists were cut down, their tanks turned to slag or smoking hulks. The grotesque giant that led the cult was pinpointed by Ostraxos' snipers, and wounded severely before Ferro Triarii and Rubigo Centra brought it low with their great fists. The remaining cult leaders, frail and twisted mutants, were picked off by Psylex 4.8, at the head of a full kill-clade of infiltrators. Even the emergence of a second cult patriarch within yards of Ostraxos did not deter the imperial forces, as Sigma CXX-Myr brought the full weight of Dunecrawler artillery to bear upon it, vaporizing it before it could strike. The battle was won decisively, and the supply lines maintained. In the final moments of the battle, however, as Braxis sent forward his escort to clean out the remaining cultists, a shadowy figure was spotted in the ruins nearby. As he turned to face it, the figure sprinted from the ruins and leapt upon him, driving its foul xenotech knife into his body. The Inquisitor fell before he could retaliate, and though the assassin was swiftly dispatched by a following Skitarii patrol it was too late to save him. The Inquisitor's body was burned before it could be corrupted by xenos infection, and Ostraxos returned to orbit preparing to re-purpose the Inquisitor's plans to his own devices. His effort were premature, however, as the Inquisitor's personal vessel appeared from the warp and docked with the Ark. Ostraxos was shocked to see the Inquisitor himself stride into his chambers, unhurt and even appearing somewhat younger than he had on the planet. The man before him explained that Braxis had prepared clone-sons to replace him in the event of his death, and that he was Braxis II, here to take his clone-father's place and carry his plans forward. Bearing the Inquisitorial seal as he was, Ostraxos had no choice but to obey. And so the campaign to cleanse the Hades Sector of Xenos and Chaos corruption was set in motion, led by the IXth Macroclade of Forgeworld Ryza’s LXII Expeditionary Reclamation of Sacred Texts and Diagrams in the light of the Omnissiah’s Benevolence. Chapter 3: The beginning of the Inquisitor's plan called for the reigniting of the forges of Sebastus IX, a Fortress World surrounded by active Necron Tombs that had served as Braxis' home base for decades and was home to some of the most well trained Imperial soldiers in the sector. The world had also once been an active manufactorum, however the forges had been silent for quite some time since the loss of the local Magos of the local Forgeworld Nimh in a xenos raid. Ostraxos began the work of repairing and restarting the forges, assisted by his aide Antillius. While Antillius was investigating the depths of the tectonic reactor mechanisms, he stumbled upon a xenotech buried in an ancient cavern. It was clearly of Eldar origin, and when Ostraxos was informed he immediately deployed Microclade III to pursue the last known location of the xenos and find more information. The Microclade, aided by a detachment from Forgeworld Nimh keen on avenging their lost magos, tracked down a group of Eldar led by one of their Autarchs. In a fierce skirmish the Microclade were able to dispatch most of the xenos, and though they uncovered no further intelligence on the nature of the artifact they found something perhaps more valuable; battle plans. The plans were relayed to Ostraxos and Braxis, detailing an Eldar plan to raid Sebastus IX, recover the artifact, and assassinate Ostraxs. Knowing the xenos were coming, the two Imperial leaders laid a trap for their foes. When the Eldar landed on the world, hidden by their holo-fields, they expected to find an unprepared enemy distracted by repair work. Instead, their holo-fields suddenly failed, revealing Ostraxos and Braxis standing atop an entrenched and bristling fortress of Skitarii, dunecrawler tanks, fire-support automata, and a fully armed Questoris-class Knight piloted by a noble of House Raven. The IXth immediately opened fire, targeting the xenos group that had landed nearest the relic's location to deny them their prize. The infantry and Fire Prism guarding the Farseer who was charged with claiming the relic were swept away in an immense wave of firepower, providing an opening for Crimson Soul to stride forward and sweep the Farseer into his immense metal grasp. Though the xenos' rune armor allowed to him to withstand the crushing grasp far longer than most foes, and Lord Elgin became concerned that the Farseer would employ some psychic trickery to somehow still claim the relic. He voxed this concern to Ostraxos, who ordered Antillius to destroy the relic rather than entertain the risk of its capture. As the explosion of the relic's destruction shook the planet, the Farseer in Crimson Soul's grasp teleported away from the battlefield, leaving his slaughtered detachment behind. The remaining Eldar forces remained, determined to carry out their mission to kill Ostraxos. Led by a towering daemonic giant in the aspect of their war god, they swept across the battlefield towards the entrenched positions of the IXth. A firefight of epic proportions began, compounded by the psychic energies of Braxis II and the Eldar's remaining psykers crackling in the sky. Alpha XIV-Pensos led his unit of cavalry charging into a mass of guardians, cutting down several in sparking taser blasts. As the guardians pulled back the great daemon strode forward and cut the entire dragoon squad into pieces in a few swift strikes. Several enemy flyers streaked across the sky as well, one being shot down by a well-triangulated burst of vanguard plasma fire. Crimson Soul strode across the battlefield once more as well, lending his immense firepower to the fray. Another secret resource at Braxis' disposal made itself known at this time: an assassin of the Eversor house made available for the Inquisitor's use appeared behind the Eldar forces. The assassin, joined by a kill clade of infiltrators, through himself at the Eldar leader in an attempt to decapitate the enemy army. The combined strikes of his neural gauntlet and the infiltrators goads nearly brought the xenos down, however he was saved at the last moment as the daemonic avatar strode forward and cut the assassin down. The autarch himself was able to dispatch the killclade before being removed from danger. As casualties mounted on both sides, Ostraxos and Braxis II both engaged an enemy psyker and his wraithguard escort, cutting down several of the constructs and the psyker himself. As the dust settled, it became clear the both commanders were exposed to the enemy, and Ostraxos was suddenly swept by a hail of shuriken fire and psychic blasts. Yet as his form was blasted apart, a thin smile appeared on his lips. His consciousness had already been restored upon the Ark Mechanicus in a new body, and the destruction of his old form activated a special protocol in the Skitarii noospeheric-battlefold. All the data he had collected on the foe as he was cut down was uploaded to their databanks, and their fire suddenly became far deadlier. As the battle dragged on several another enemy psyker was brought down by Braxis II, despite severe wounds suffered earlier. The enemy daemon threw itself against the Reclamation Automata, and cut down several before they banished it back to the warp (or wherever it resides) with concentrated bursts of phosphor fire at close range. Crimson Soul charged the remaining enemy forces, but was crippled by a well-placed prism lance and a psychic assault. Just as the final shots were about to be fired, the eldar finally pulled back, leaving Sebastus IX once again in the hands of the Imperium, albeit with the relic destroyed. Once the renovations on Sebastus IX were completed, and Crimson Soul was repaired within its forges, it was time for the next stage of the campaign. Braxis II, recovered from his wounds, informed Ostraxos that the next target was a world deep within Necron territory. This world would need to be taken from the xenos and fortified, to be used as a staging point for the final assaults to drive the xenos forces out of the sector. Remembering the heavy losses sustained during his last encounter with the construct enemy, Ostraxos diversified the loadout of his forces in order to ensure greater tactical flexibility. As the IXth's landing craft entered atmosphere they were struck by interference from xenotech beacons. The largest craft, containing the bulk of the main force and Crimson Soul, lost engine power and plummeted. Only through furious near-instant calculation was catastrophe averted and a landing effected. The craft itself was destroyed, but in the smoke the IXth was able to effect at least a minimal deployment. This was fortunate, as the xenos seized the advantage and Ostraxos' forces suddenly found themselves face to face with the enemy. Crackling arcs of energy vaporized the dragoon cavalry as they emerged from the wreckage, and a fire-support automata was similarly brought low. As one unit of rangers scaled a building to gain vantage, they were suddenly blasted off of their perch. Suddenly Crimson Soul appeared, having extricated himself from the bowels of the ship, and blasted away the xenos destroyers which had destroyed the dragoons. The tide of battle suddenly seemed to reach equilibrium with this counterattack, at least outside the ship. Meanwhile, within the wreckage chaos reigned. Familiar serpentine constructs bearing slicing blades, cutting away at duncrawler armor. With a terrifying roar, a new and massive xenos beast leapt into the midst of Macroclade. The entirety of the Kataphron servitor unit was eliminated in one blow, and it appeared as if the vanguard infantry would also be lost. Suddenly, Braxis II himself strode forward and struck the beast with a psychic blast. As it reeled from the blow Salient Dogma and Rubigo Centra swept away its chittering scarab escort and strode forward, smashing it into the ground with their fists and dissipating it. At the same moment, with a fierce cry of machine cant, the Body Electric Fulgurite band charged forward into the wraiths, blasting them apart with sweeping strikes from their electroleech staves and blasts from their motive field. The fulgurites absorbed the energy of the constructs as they cut them down, and strode forward clad in a protective shield of pure lightning. What followed was pure carnage, as scores of skitarii and necron infantry slaughtered each other in blasts of radium, plasma, gauss, and tesla fire. the xenos tanks hammered at the shielding of Crimson Soul and Sigma CXX-Myr, who likewise returned withering fire although many of their shots were twisted out of reality by the strange xenos techno-sorcery. Rubigo Centra was disabled as it approached enemy lines, but Salient Dogma was able to break through and annihilate several necron warriors. Meanwhile on the other side of the enemy lines, another Eversor assassin was dispatched to clear out the entrenched enemy infantry and dispatch their commanders. As the assassin and the automata met in the center of the foe's lines, the necron's queen suddenly appeared, cutting down Salient Dogma with three swift strikes of her weapon while directing her forces to gun down the assassin. Just as this loss seemed to tip the scales in the favor of the enemy, Crimson Soul and Sigma CXX-Myr were able to down one of the great floating enemy tanks through their combined fire, and the last of the enemy infantry were wiped out in a hail of missiles, phosphor fire, and avenger gatling shells. The brothers of the Body Electric swept into the necron queen, meeting her thundering electric field with their own. Ostraxos personally patched the holes in the armor of the dunecrawler and knight as they limped forward, and though his targeting system was damaged, Lord Elgin was able to deliver the final volley that brought down the remaining enemy tank. All that remained were the enemy commanders; the queen and a lone cryptek. Braxis II, burning with zealous rage charged forward to deal with them personally. His fury was such that he chose to forgo psychic weaponry, instead turning the enemy Cryptek to slag with a carefully aimed blast from his inferno pistol before turning to Queen Neta. At this point her metal shell was smoking and sparking, having been nearly blasted apart by the Fulgurites although she had reduced their numbers to only two. His anger grew as he saw the telltale sign of her consciousness leaving the frame as he raised his warhammer to end the fight, and he brought the weapon down with such violence that the regal construct burst into flaming pieces. The battle for the world of Rakdos was over, and the vital staging point for the rest of the crusade was secured. The price paid for the world was high, however, and the crusade would need to consolidate before the final scouring was commenced. ''